Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of producing a microfluidic device; a microfluidic device; and a photosensitive resin composition.
Discussion of the Background
Microfluidic devices (also referred to as “microchannel devices”, “microchannel chips”, “microreactors” and the like), which are compact devices comprising a chip substrate in which a fine flow channel for fluids such as liquids and gases, a valve, inlet and outlet of the fluids and the like are formed, have been developed and increasingly applied to a wide range of uses such as separation analysis, sensing and chemical reaction of various substances.
As an example of such applications, in recent years, high-throughput screening of pharmaceuticals, agricultural chemicals and the like, where a microfluidic device is utilized to perform separation, analysis and synthesis of biologically relevant substances including proteins, nucleic acids such as DNA and RNA, and sugar chains, has drawn attention.
Specifically, a microfluidic device comprises a capillary micro flow channel inside a member such as a glass or resin substrate, a pump element provided for transport of a fluid through the flow channel, a detection element and the like.
As for a method of producing a flow channel of such a microfluidic device, there are known production methods utilizing a two-step curing mechanism which comprises a step of preparing a patterned resin layer from an energy ray-curable resin composition (photosensitive resin composition) on a support by photolithography (hereinafter, also simply referred to as “lithography”) and a step of subsequently bonding a cover material thereon (JP-A-2009-134255, JP-A-2009-221370 and JP-A-2010-070614).